Mapping Memories of Slavery: Commemoration, Community and Identity in Contemporary France

'Mapping Memories of Slavery' explores how commemorative associations located in France and its overseas departments are challenging the state's failure to engage with the history of slavery. It begins with the 150-year anniversary of the abolition of slavery (1998) that was celebrated in France under Chirac's presidency (1995-2007) and gave rise to the passing of a landmark law (Taubira Law, 21 May 2001). After decades of silence, this law retrospectively recognized slavery as 'a crime against humanity' and committed the Republic to overcoming its former refusal to confront this difficult past. In reality, however, little has since been done at a national level to honour this legal pledge beyond the most perfunctory commemorative 'duties' performed each year by the state on 10 May (2006-). In the absence of a genuine effort to address the history of slavery and incorporate it into the nation's narrative, numerous commemorative associations have, since 1998, emerged across the French Republic. Their projects, which range from political campaigns to re-baptise streets named after former slavers to the reconstruction of a pedagogical slave ship, collectively aim to valorise the identities of those descended from slavery. The desire to create visible and, at times, violent sites of memory in which the voices of these descendants can be heard has much to say about the construction of postcolonial identities and memories in France today. In the absence of a state memory, the study of the relationship of these commemorative associations to the past therefore exposes the changing role of the nation-state as an increasingly nebulous point of reference for identity formation.
This project has two primary aims. First, it seeks to assess the efficacy of the state's commemorative practices from the perspective of those most affected by this history. Primarily, it will examine the extent to which the government has achieved its legal intention to offer moral reparations to the descendants of slaves by ensuring that the memories of slavery, the slave trade and its abolition become embedded within the national narrative. Second, it aims to explore the ways in which commemorative associations have encountered and countered state-led memorial practices with models of remembrance that often challenge the Republic's celebrated motto: 'Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité'. Indeed, these are projects that remind us that the racism, inequality and social division of contemporary society remain some of the most divisive legacies of the colonial past.
As the first complete study of memory and identity formation among commemorative associations, this project will work with twelve citizen groups based in Paris, the former slave ports of Nantes and Bordeaux, and the former plantation colonies of Réunion, Martinique and Guadeloupe. Drawing its primary data from archival work in government and museum centres, complemented with key stakeholder interviews with association members, artists, local politicians and government committees, it will compare the planning and execution of state- and association-led commemorative events from different perspectives. In addition, it will gather the responses of local and national media, and the wider community, to these occasions. Through these sources, it will present an in-depth picture of the divergence of opinion that exists between the contemporary French state and its citizens over the remembrance of slavery and the slave trade. In doing so, will reveal the complex and dynamic ways in which identities and memories are being formed in a society with an increasingly weak sense of Republicanism. These discrete case studies thus serve as the basis for offering a new theoretical model for understanding postcolonial identity formations within and beyond the nation-state and the increasingly fragile relationships between the French state and its citizens as they attempt to work through the legacies of the past.

'Mapping Memories of Slavery' is geared towards making a significant contribution to the tenth anniversary of slavery commemoration in France in 2016. By working alongside commemorative associations and government bodies located throughout the French Republic, it will not only produce excellent research for academics, but will necessarily target the non-academic communities with which it is involved. Since it explores some of the deep-seated issues affecting marginalized communities today, including social integration and belonging, cultural memory and patrimony, and the diversity of Republican identities, it will be of potential interest to a large number of non-academic groups.
The first major group concerns the public sector for which a bilingual report will be compiled (see 'Research Outputs' for more details). The government-funded Committee for the Memory and History of Slavery, which is responsible for overseeing slavery commemoration at a national level, has already expressed a strong interest in reading the results of this report. Following a conference on memories of slavery organized by the PI in 2011, collaborative links have been established with the president of the Committee, Françoise Vergès, who acted as keynote speaker and is in regular contact with the PI. In addition, regional offices dedicated to the preservation of local patrimony and culture, and located in regions formerly involved in slavery and the slave trade will be interested in the findings of the project. The Archaeological and Patrimonial Authority in Nantes, for example, would like to consider the responses of local associations to the city's commemorative efforts since this research contributes to their own projects on community responses, which have already been shared with the PI. The PI will seek to deepen these pre-existing relationships and reach towards other equivalent bodies located in Paris and the French Antilles, as well as museum sites that are concerned with community and cultural memory. As such, the report summarizing the research findings may have a significant political impact since it will showcase successes and highlight areas for development in terms integrating marginalized memories through commemorative projects.
The second major group concerns commemorative associations. Initially, this will require building upon the links that have already been formed with three associations in Nantes and Bordeaux by including citizen groups based in Paris and the French Antilles. Through the creation of a website (where the report will also be publicised), these groups will be able to view the full range of commemorative practices happening across the French Republic and identify possible areas for future cross-regional collaborations. The website will do this by providing biographical and analytical information connecting different citizen groups. In future, the site may be expanded to include associations based throughout the French- and English-speaking worlds since it has the potential to generate a significant cultural impact by facilitating transnational connections between different commemorative associations. Funds to support the implementation of this bilingual website have been built in the FEC.